This game was released on the Amiga in 1990 and was reviewed in Zzap May 1990. The game was essentially a managerial version of Kick Off, with the Kick Off engine used for the arcade game. At the end of the review, a C64 update mentioned that the C64 version was to debut in July – but it never did.
We pretty much know that Mark Greenshields was behind the managerial code, and Finlay Munroe’s code was to be used for the arcade part. Ben Hayes cartridge work we believe was to be a separate thing, but could well have integrated the managerial part from Mark at a later date.
What is interesting is that Finlay coded Kick Off 2, and not the original Kick Off on the C64… so was Finlay reworking the old engine, or was the C64 version to integrate with Kick Off 2 instead?
Mark shed light that the work was almost complete, but Anco never paid Mark for his work – so he never passed it over.
There is a chance that something could be saved of the game, but it is unlikely. Watch this space as we try and see if Mark recovers anything of the game. Check out all the excellent scans, dug out by Martin / Stadium 64 for now.
Contributions: Peter Weighill, Mark Greenshields, Darren Gurney, Martin/Stadium64
Hi…
In reference to Player Manager on the Amiga… PM used the Kick Off engine, not KO2 engine.
There`s no aftertouch and a few other things thats not in PM.
thanks
Darren
Whoops, thanks Darren … will fix that now!